I finally got brave enough to try this. I want to enable DMA for my FTP hard drive, since LAN transfers are not even close to what they should be (2MB/s max) and use way too much CPU, slowing down internet connectivity. :huh:

So, what do i need to recompile the kernel for DMA support? My FREESCO box is an old Fujitsu PC, the chipset is OPTi, don't really remember the exact model now. I'll take a look at it if you need the model.

Good luck on getting decent numbers out of it. If it is very old it may not even have DMA support, or limit it to certain slots or no slots at all, just internal system transfers.[/quote]

It has DMA support for sure. Back when i had Windoze 98 installed on it it used to run much smoother when enabling DMA from the OS. What modes can it support, i haven't got a clue. But i am gonna find out!

Thanks for the links, i'll get the patched kernel now.

dRB, thanks man! I can handle hdparm by myself though, i've used Ubuntu in the past.

Now let's see what i can get out of this box. B)

Later Edit: I have a Pentium @ 133MHz. The readme says 686 kernels will run only on Pentipros, MMXs or higher. The highest 586 kernel i could find is the 035 kernel. I have 037 installed. Can i use that kernel or will there be issues?

You can use that kernel without any real side effects, however I did just compile a kernel with the new 038 kernel source that might be a better choice to try out.<a href='http://lewys-spot.dyndns.org/kernels/' target='_blank'>http://lewys-spot.dyndns.org/kernels/</a>

If you are afraid that you might make a mistake. The chances are high that you will never learn anything.

Sorry for the late reply, but i've been pretty busy lately. BTW, i'm running the 038 686 kernel (kernel-038.cd-686-triton-vipc-power_off) without any issues. It seems to run better than the 586 one. B)

Well, CDFiXER, you were right. justdave compiled a new kernel for me, and we got DMA actually working on this thing.

But, yes, there has to be a "but". The maximum supported mode is multi-word mode 2 (i've fubared my FREESCO install trying to set UDMA 2 ), and it is SLOWER than using PIO.

Read speeds stay the same at around 4MB/sec, but write speeds dropped from 1.67MB/sec to like 600KB/sec.. So i guess it's back to good ol' PIO mode for me, at least for now.

I have plans for a better server, but it will be something built around an MMX Pentium, probably running at 200MHz, or an AMD K6 if i can find a good mobo for it. Or maybe an ULV processor like the Crusoe... i don't know. And since i'll want a hard drive larger than 137 gigs, i think i won't be running FREESCO anymore then.

But those are future plans, and i think my actual FREESCO box will be running solid for at least a couple more years.

And since it's nice, small and almost dead silent - the Fujitsu ErgoPro x451 has a slim desktop case inside which the custom Astec PSU is cooled by a quiet 92mm fan, the Pentium 133 is running fanless, and the WD 1200JB (pretty quiet drive) is mounted inside the HDD silencer the case has - everybody likes it. :wub:

Thanks for your help and continue developing this great piece of software! :happy: